How to paint a brick fireplace in 7 easy steps
How to paint a brick fireplace in one afternoon
I walked into this house and my first thought was this fireplace has to be painted as soon as possible!
We bought the house and the first project I started to tackle was painting the brick fireplace as promised to myself a couple of weeks ago.
Look for yourself, this fireplace was so dark and humongous, it had to go. I couldn’t look at it any longer.
So here is the picture of how it looked when we bought the house. What do you think about it?
This huge fireplace is such a focal point and it looks like a dark hole.
If you want to know how it looks now and what I did, read on:
How to paint a brick fireplace
First, you need to gather all the material to get started.
This is what you need to paint a brick fireplace:
Here is the link if you want to print it out: Brick Fireplace
7 easy steps to paint a brick fireplace
- First, use warm soapy water and remove any dirt or dust thoroughly.
- Use Deglosser and wipe down the brick one more time to make sure, that no grease or fat is leftover on the brick.
- Then cover the black metal insert with plastic wrap or cardboard.
- Also, cover the floor and all areas you want to keep paint-free.
- I used white spray paint primer and applied one coat of white primer. You can also apply a regular paint primer onto the brick.
- Once the primer is dry, it is time to paint. I used my large and medium-sized brush to apply the paint. Painting the brick was pretty easy and fast, the grout took a little longer because I used the small brush to get in every little corner.
- Check thoroughly if you are satisfied or if you need one more coat of paint.
Now, I didn’t want to whitewash my brick fireplace, I wanted it to be white.
If you like to whitewash your fireplace, just water down the paint depending on how you like it.
Just try it out, start with a little water and add more and more until you are satisfied.
Depends on how white you like the brick to be, try to water the paint with different amounts of water: paint ratios on a sample brick.
See the pictures after one coat of primer and one coat of paint
Fireplace after one coat with primer.
Brick Fireplace after one coat of paint.
Almost done with one coat of paint. But I had to touch up with a second coat of paint as you can see.
Finally, I was satisfied and this is how it looks now:
Another fireplace I painted in an off-white color
This is the fireplace in our short-term rental in Snowshoe, WV. (You can actually rent the condo if you love to go skiing and hiking).
The room is just so much brighter and happier with the white fireplace now, what do you think?
Should you paint your fireplace?
I am so glad I did this project almost the day after we moved into this house.
It makes such a difference because the first thing you see when you enter the house is that fireplace.
And the painted white brick makes the whole room look so much brighter now and it fits so much better to my style.
Therefore if you are wondering if you should paint your brick fireplace, yes do it.
Do you have a brick fireplace or is it stone?
But before you take on this project, inspect your fireplace. What kind of a stone is it?
Most stone fireplaces—limestone, sandstone, river rock, for example—are less amenable and harder to change if you do paint them. A brick surround is the best bet.
What color do you want to paint it?
Then choose your color. A whitewash or painted white brick fireplace is a classic choice, but a black or dark blue fireplace adds so much drama.
If your room is bright with lots of light coming in and you want to add some excitement, then pick a color that matches the style of your home.
Do you hate your fireplace?
In our previous house, I had the fireplace completely removed because I hated it, it was too big for the wall. Therefore we just added a modern insert.
It made such a difference to the room because the fireplace was out of scale. Here, see for yourself.
The fireplace was too big compared to the door right next to it. I tried to make it look better by removing that wooden headboard, but that fireplace was overwhelming for the relatively small living room.
It had to go. It took me a lot of arguments to convince my husband, but in the end, he agreed and we took this mantel off and added a new and modern insert. See for yourself:
If you like it modern, you will love it.
Now it looks so much better and fits much more to my style and furniture. But as you can see, I also had the door next to the fireplace removed, because I wanted more wall space.
So this is how it looks now and I love it. Clean and stylish. But I couldn’t enjoy this view very long, because we moved to the other house with a humongous dark brick fireplace.
But you read the story already, I painted it and now it looks fine.
A final word on ‘How to paint a brick fireplace’
Therefore, if you want to change the style of your room, check out what you can alter to make an impact. Often there is the opportunity to paint what just doesn’t fit to your style (read my kitchen remodel, I painted the kitchen cabinets and just love it now).
Often a fresh coat of paint makes such a difference. But sometimes you have to make bigger changes to a room to be comfortable in it
But any change helps if you are unhappy with a room and you will be so much more content after you did it.
And if you are interested in how to decorate a fireplace mantel, check out next week’s blog post on creative ideas on how to decorate a mantel.
Also if you want to add some colors to your rooms as spring is approaching fast then please stay tuned for more decorating ideas.
Check out my Pinterest board
Do you need to see more different options? Check out my Pinterest board https://www.pinterest.com/colorfuldesigner/fireplace-and-fireplace-mantel-painted-brick-firep/
where you can see a lot of different options and colors. Actually painted it black looks really good. So check it out, and while you are there, pleased follow me.
Please share this picture on Pinterest and Facebook. Thank you!
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